Carbonization of Sugarcane Bagasse and Heat Transfer Property by Pyrolysis in Superheated Steam and Nitrogen Atmosphere

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse is one of the biomass wastes which have a high thermal value (HHV) when dried and can be converted into energy by physical, biological or thermochemical process. Carbonization behavior of sugarcane bagasse and heat transfer properties were studied with superheated steam and nitrogen gas. In the carbonization experiment, char yield, HHV and carbon losing rate of superheated steam showed the same trend as that of nitrogen heating at the treatment temperature between 491 and 702 K. It means that no special oxidation occurs in superheated steam carbonization and the pyrolysis by superheated steam was the same as nitrogen gas. In the heat transfer properties, temporal change in the sample temperature attained a good agreement between calculation and experiment for superheated steam and nitrogen gas. The sample temperature in superheated steam atmosphere reached the set carbonization temperature faster than that in the nitrogen atmosphere due to the superior heat transfer property of radiation in addition to heat convection. As described above, superheated steam carbonizes the sugarcane bagasse with no additional oxidation as well as nitrogen pyrolysis and has better heat transfer property than nitrogen heating, which leads to conclusion that superheated steam is one of the useful carbonization tools of biomass.